Trust members say nomadic hut fits organization’s peace mission

A little round building in the backyard of the Voluntown Peace Trust is a model for the new peace movement, members said. About 20 volunteers assembled a modern, canvas-covered yurt, a round dwelling traditional to nomadic Mongolian herdsmen, at the trust on Beach Pond Road three weeks ago. It was donated by Kit ...

A little round building in the backyard of the Voluntown Peace Trust is a model for the new peace movement, members said.

About 20 volunteers assembled a modern, canvas-covered yurt, a round dwelling traditional to nomadic Mongolian herdsmen, at the trust on Beach Pond Road three weeks ago. It was donated by Kit and Jane Johnson, members who first built it in their Stonington backyard for their then-teenage son. Kit Johnson said his family has a deep connection to the group and belief in its mission.

“I see the yurt as fitting into the ethos of the Peace Trust, and it may be the first of others to come,” he said. “It has a wonderful energy as a building, it’s very sturdy to the elements, it’s a lovely meeting place and people can even live in them.”

Joanne Sheehan of Norwich, the chairwoman of the board of directors and a former caretaker of the property in the 1970s, said it was an easy decision to accept the gift. She later helped take it down in Stonington and reassemble it on cement blocks in Voluntown.

“The thing about yurts is they travel well. Mongolians have them, and they’re a migrant people. They go with their yaks, graze in certain pastures then wrap it all up and carry it away. It’s really an amazing structure,” she said. “The most work came from hauling the cement blocks. The floor is in pie pieces — it’s built to move, so it comes down and goes up easily.”

The yurt fits perfectly with the group’s mission of peace; sustainability, Sheehan and caretaker Nancy Kwasnik said, is the new frontier for peace promotion.

“We’re all about sustainability here, and yurts go along with that because there’s very little impact on the environment with a building like this,” said Kwasnik, who has been the caretaker at the property for two years with her daughters Carissa, 9, and Stella, 12 and dog Sydney.

Kwasnik said the yurt’s spot was chosen to maximize sun exposure, which heats and lights the structure through a single skylight in the center of the domed ceiling. A wood stove hasn’t been installed yet, but for now the foil insulation behind the wood lattice walls keeps the structure toasty, even on 40-degree days.

Kwasnik said the site will be used as additional space for overnight retreats and small-group breakout spaces for conferences. Between events, its futon, chairs and rug pieces make for a cozy, den-like meditation space separate from the main building where the bathroom and kitchen facilities on the property are. Kwasnik said volunteers are already playing on the name, hoping to hold a yoga class and call it yog-urt.